Telecommunications networks were developed to carry narrow bandwidth (low speed) voice communications between users at geographically dispersed locations. More recently, these networks have been used to transport data as well as voice communications. Conventionally, computers use modems to transmit data over a telecommunications network. Typically, these modems can transmit data with a rate up to approximately 56 kilobits per second (kbps) although modems with higher rates are available.
Telecommunications services are in high demand. And the demand continues to grow. Businesses, educational institutions, and individuals all have communications needs. These needs are met by an ever-widening field of service providers. For example, many cable companies have begun to offer telecommunications services, e.g., telephony, and data transmission, over their existing cable plant.
One problem with the transmission of data over existing telecommunications networks is the speed at which data is transmitted over the network. For example, some conventional modems can take up to an hour or more to download large files from the Internet.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for a system for transporting data at high data rates.